Day 6: June 7th, 2nd Corner, Blaine WA

In the morning I met the Boyd’s from Minnesota.  When they had departed Minnesota the temperature was 36 degrees, so they went and toured the southwest where it reached over 100!  Departing Baker City was into beautiful weather, clear skies, cool temps…perfect for a man my age J.  The Oregon hills and mountains are very different here in the eastern part of the state, they are very rolling, bulging curves.  That’s about the best I can do in describing them.  I-82 showed up and I headed north on that towards Yakima, and this is where my stress level peaked out!  The winds had been slowly picking up in intensity and when arriving in Yakima they were so intense the gusts were moving me from one side of the lane to another.  Also, it is not easy to find a name brand gas station there, unless you want Arco or 7-11, they seem to be everywhere.  Leaving the town the winds continued to be a discomfort, but at least the gust intensity had lessened somewhat.

I-84 merged onto I-90 and I headed east towards Seattle.  It had been getting chilly so I had my rain gear on until coming down west of the Shoqualmie Pass where I stopped in Issaquah to remove the gear.  Leaving the station I almost had a collision with a fast moving driver coming around a turn.  I slammed both brakes on, as did he, and Sophia’s front wheel twisted on the driveway’s 3 inch drop to the road…..and down I went.  Fortunately no collision occurred and drivers help right the bike and I was on my way.

The next frustration occurred transitioning to I-405 North.  It is Friday, 5pm, and everyone wants to get to wherever they are going before anyone else gets there.  Even the car pool lanes were stop and go..

The Mt. Vernon Bridge outing was pretty simple to navigate.  You just ride I-5 to the end and then the detour barrels take you onto the exit, right turn to the light, left at the light to go over the other bridge, left at the next light, then right onto the I-5 ramp.  Total distance of the detour may reach 2 miles.  I was lucky as there was not a huge wait.

Then off to Blaine, got a gentleman to take a photo for me, got the gas receipt and then

back to Mt. Vernon as I wanted to get back over the bridge tonight and not deal with it tomorrow.  When I arrived at the detour exit there was not traffic and I sailed through the detour and went over to a Quality Inn for the night.

Tomorrow I head back to Lebanon and hopefull will meet up with Steve for a lunch break.

C ya mañana,
Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell: 949-433-0761
LiveViewGPS: 70.169.216.3/specialevent.aspx?cid=liveviewgps&login=gonzo.ronald@live.com&pwd=7082

Day 5: June 6th, Beautiful WY, CO and UT

The ride out of Rock Springs covered previous ridden territory from The Three Flags Classic last year as I passed Green River and Little America.  Then, a short distance west of Little America I was greeted with the beautiful expanse of the Wyoming country.  Ranch land everywhere, hills, mountains.  And then the big joy…..to the south I could see the Colorado Rockies.  Absolutely magnificent with their snow capped peaks reaching into the high skies.  Nary a cloud in sight obstructed this view for many a mile.

The next surprise was Utah.  I swear, every time I ride through this state I am introduced to new beautiful country.  Today it was on I-82 as it branched off of I-80 and headed NW towards Ogden..  The highway meandered through the most gorgeous pass with steep green mountains, some capped with snow, guarding the sides of the gently curving road.

 

There was a view site for the Devil’s Slide but I didn’t stop.  I did however, glance in passing and caught sight of a dual parallel rock formation funning down the steep mountain with a space between the two….I guess this is where the Devil slides down….freaky!  The views of the canyon was beautiful.  I stopped in Mt Green for gas and saw a picnic bench under a tree so I enjoyed a relaxing lunch with the sound of the birds in the cool shade.

From Ogden I continued on I-84 heading to Boise.  This stretch of road from Brigham to Rupert, about 120 miles or so, is a long hot stretch.  Out of Mountain View the winds started picking up but weren’t that bad.  Through Idaho and into Oregon it was a good ride.  The only challenge on the ride was the setting sun blazing into my eyes.  Baker City showed up so I spent the night there.  This is the place where Paint your Wagon was filmed with Lee Marvin and a young Clint Eastwood.

Unfortunately it was late and the only food source I could find was a Domino’s Pizza.  While waiting for the pizza I went outside and met Mark and Becky from Missoula MT.  They were on a BMW and enjoy riding distances, so I introduced them to the SCMA.  Back at the motel the pepperoni sausage went down pretty quick when chased by a beer!

C ya mañana,
Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell: 949-433-0761
LiveViewGPS: 70.169.216.3/specialevent.aspx?cid=liveviewgps&login=gonzo.ronald@live.com&pwd=7082

Day 4: June 5th, Almost through WY

The morning started off with a light rain.  Out on the highway it got very cold, so cold that I pulled onto the side of the road to find my facemask.  Local sheriff stopped to tell me it wasn’t that cold!  Yeah, well, he’s in a heated SUV…I felt like suggesting that he ride for 50 miles at 65mph with his face sticking out the side window in the rain…then tell me if it is cold enough.  Obviously I didn’t make the retort.

By the time we reached I-80 I was definitely cold.  Face was warm but gloves were wet and torso was chilled.  I pulled into a Pilot gas station for adjustment.  An additional heavy long sleeve t-shirt under the leathers and rain gear, and my winter ski gloves that I brought just for this occasion!  BTW, the Pilot at 183 and I-80 doesn’t have 91 Octane.

The intermittent light rain finally went away and it was smooth sailing into WY. Skies were totally clear!  Only discomfort was the incessant wind buffeting. I called it a night around 8pm when I reached Rock Springs.  Rode 622 miles today.  Hoping tomorrow is dry and less windy as we head into Utah, Idaho, and into Oregon (if I make it that far).

C ya mañana,
Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell: 949-433-0761
LiveViewGPS: 70.169.216.3/specialevent.aspx?cid=liveviewgps&login=gonzo.ronald@live.com&pwd=7082

Day 3: June 4th, Reaching Lebanon

After an excellent egg, sausage, biscuit breakfast Sophia, Snoopy and I got on the road.  We took US350 to La junta.  This was an amazing ride through the Colorado country.  There were hills, not Rocky Mountains, as this is the east part of the state.  Everything is green, fresh air, farms, ranches, great beauty.  But I bet it is hell in the winter J.

Along the way we passed the Commanche National Grasslands.  Pretty cool looking area….need to stop and visit there next time when I’m not on a schedule.

We then connected to CO71 which took us to I70 heading into KS.  At Colby we jumped off I70 and took US24 to US83 then KS383 which hypotenuesed us to US36.  many miles later I almost missed the exit for KS181 which takes us into Lebanon.  This town is a very small old town.  Not much here as there is a very small population. 

The gas station is on 181 and while I was tanking up I couldn’t contain my curiosity about some kind of massive farming equipment being towed by a huge tractor sitting at the station.  This is when I met Chuck Warner and his daughter Alayna.  They own and operate a farm and were getting ready to plant soybean onto 1600 acres well into midnight.  They took the time to explain the equipment to me and how they now plant their fields using GPS .  To me, these folks are the true Americans, still producing agriculture for the rest of us Americans who I feel often take our food source for granted.  But I diverse, as usual…..

When I went to get my receipt, I was too late to hit the “Yes” button so I went to  the station door to get a copy when OOPS!, the station was closed!

This is where Chuck and Alayna showed what being a Kansas Farmer is all about.  They knew where Bill Befort was (he has the key) and went to get him so he could open the store and get me a needed receipt.  How about them apples!  Or rather, how about them soybeans! 

With receipt in hand, photos taken at the Marker, Blaine WA dialed into the Zumo, it was

backtracking on 36 to get onto US183 to connect with I80 west.  The only problem was….it got dark real quick.  Riding the country road at night with blinking oncoming headlights was not fun.   Fortunately we came upon Alma NE and a nice motel to turn in for the night.  The day amounted to only 569 miles.

Ahhh, this 4 Corners stuff can get exciting !

C ya mañana,
Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell: 949-433-0761
LiveViewGPS: 70.169.216.3/specialevent.aspx?cid=liveviewgps&login=gonzo.ronald@live.com&pwd=7082

 

Day 2: June 3rd, Colorado Dust Storm

Slept well, loaded the bike and rode outa Gallup at a gallop J.

Found out from LiveViewGPS that my tracker is indeed working.  Family and friends can track my location by clicking the link at the end of this post.

The ride was pretty uneventful.  The day warmed up to the point where the leather jacket got stowed and the riding shirt came on over the T.

I-40 took me into Albuquerque where I turned south on I-25.  This is my first time on this stretch of rode and once again I’m amazed with the beauty of our America!  Having been in the White Sands part of southern NM I was blown away to be riding through forests!

Crossing over the CO state line I could see what looked like a rain burst about 20 miles ahead.  As I got closer it became evident that Sophia (my Harley Road King), Snoopy (my flying buddy) and I were not going to beat it.  So I pulled onto the side of the road to don the rain gear.  Looking up to check the location of the rain I was stunned to see that it was practically upon me!  Just as I got the jacket on WHAM!  it strucks us with a moving force. But it was odd…..there was no WET!  What in the world is this??  Later at the Trinidad Days Inn I found out it was a dust storm.  Not sand! All my gear had a fine coat of dust on it.

By the way, if you spend the night in Trinidad CO  I highly recommend the DaysInn there.  It is a converted Best Western and the owners have gone all out to make it one of the best.

C ya mañana,
Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell: 949-433-0761
LiveViewGPS: 70.169.216.3/specialevent.aspx?cid=liveviewgps&login=gonzo.ronald@live.com&pwd=7082

 

Day 1: June 2nd, Satan’s Furnace Opened

Sufferin’ simmerin’ desert mirages!

What an experience today!

I made it to San Ysidro and took the requisite photo proof of visit for SC-MA.com and then tanked up to get a receipt to verify location, date and time. 

The plan was to then head to Gallup via I-8 to Gila Bend, around Phoenix, and through Flagstaff.

Well, that changed as I needed to make some packing modifications to one of my duffel bags and also to recover my desert riding shirt.  This was an extra 90 miles doing the backtrack plus the route would now be on I-10.  But in a way this was a good thing in view of what I experienced. 

Going through Palm Desert the temperature skied to the 100’s in a heartbeat.  This was a huge swing from the 50’s and moisture I experienced riding up the coast.  The full leathers were on and by the time I reached the end of the desert communities, just prior to beginning the climb over the mountain, I pulled into a TA station and removed the chaps and leather jacket.  Wow! Big

USA Four Corners True X

Long day today….hell, its been a long week and a long month building up to tomorrow’s departure from San Ysidro, first corner of the Event.

Am currently staying in the Navy Gateway Inns and Suites at the San Diego Navy Base Less than 10 miles from San Ysidro.

After a good night’s rest I will head to Gallup NM on my way to the next checkpoint: Lebanon KS.

From Lebanon the next destination is Key West, then back to Lebanon, to Blaine WA and back to Lebanon and finally to Madawaska ME.   The ride must be completed within 26 days, however, if completed in 21 or less days (the regular Four Corners ride i.e., box style) then the rider will get recognized for completing both events…pretty cool!

C ya mañana,
Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell: 949-433-0761